So here is my outlook on color.
Before painting the car ALWAYS DO A SPRAY OUT!!! Don't just look at the color in the can or a mix stick you dipped in the can. Clear the spray out with the same clear you intend to use on the car for best results. Verify the color first do not take someone’s word that theirs was perfect who knows what they are comparing to. Do not assume that it was mixed right. If you don’t and you just rock on don’t cry when it doesn’t match and you have sprayed the whole car.
Be aware that color varied (and still does) from plant to plant and day to day for a number of reasons. These reasons can affect the color as you spray as well making a color lighter or darker. Gun distance, type of gun, fluid nozzle, reducer and reduction just to name a few. Even if it was PPG or DuPont or RM that was providing the paint to the OEM’s in the 60’s and 70’s it was lacquer or enamel and most assuredly a single stage. Due to EPA regulations many pigments containing lead have gone away and now we have many more pigments to choose from not to mention more grinds of metallics and pearls. Due to the changes in pigments and resins (the carrier of the pigment) on some colors an “exact” duplication may be challenging but not impossible. Also base clear is going to look crisper and cleaner. Why all this because now all paint companies have to try to match the old original colors. It doesn’t just swap over there’s no magical conversion that works 100%. We now have technology to help like the spectrophotometers (color cameras) but they are not a guarantee (DO A SPRAYOUT!)The European brands are a little behind the curve on this with concern to American made vintage cars. However we don't have a lot of info for old Ferrari's. This does not mean that someone with a good eye for color that knows the system they are using can not dial the color in painters do this every day in collision shops around the US. As for what brand to use if someone is going to stand behind their paint job have them spray what they are comfortable with. I have sprayed numerous products and I can make them all look good but I do have my favorites even within the brand I spray (DuPont) I have some favorite products that I feel make for a GREAT paint job. Take your time an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure or a few bucks in trial and error beat the heck out of many hundreds in redo!!!
If you have a color that’s close and you like it better than the original for what ever reason go for it! It’s your car. And if there is some characteristic you don’t like in a color or do like you painter or the paint store may be able to tweak it and get you the color you want. Bluer, redder, greener, more metallic you name it. There was an awsome T5 Bronze car that a guy tweaked in Utah last year by changing metalics and adding some pearl! Just keep track of what you do when tinting.
Sorry I got carried away.
Geno
